Living With Gladys Full Time

😦

That probably sums up how Alistair feels today!

We had another long day at the Royal London under the expert care of our lovely registrar (truth not sarcasm).  The catheter was expertly whipped out at 9am and then we waited. We waited in style though and Alistair drove Miss Daisy round to the hip and trendy Broadway Market where we had breakfast and then mooched around the over priced but quite scrummy whole food shops!

So, time trickled on but alas, that was the only thing that trickled and even though all three of us had our fingers doubly crossed, Alistair’s pee tube seemed adamant that nothing should pass through it unless catheterised! The Big Boss was called for and the decision was made to go ahead with a Trans Urethral Resectioning of  Alistair’s over enlarged Prostate gland. This was not the news we wanted and to say that Alistair is disappointed is an understatement. We had our hopes pinned on todays outcome being positive and avoiding the metaphorical glint of the surgeons knife.

Still, as has been the case all the way along this sometimes fractious pathway living with cancer, Alistair will come to terms with what needs to be done and of course I will ensure that he is in excellent health going into the procedure so that his recovery will be swift and with as little damage  to the whole as possible.

Truthfully, what we are upset about is the whole healthcare model that is on offer in the UK, its so narrow. If we lived in Germany we would be asked ” do you want  chemotherapy or ozone therapy to treat  your cancer”! If we lived in Hungary we would be asked ” what herbs would you like to be treated with”! If we lived in Spain we would be able to legally buy cannabis oil to treat Alistair’s cancer! In this country we are given the choice of surgery, radiation or chemotherapy!  And that reminds me, I am still waiting from a response from Dave Cameron about why it is that we cannot legally use cannabis oil to treat illness in this country and yet if I was from any other European country I could legally bring it into the UK for personal medical use, hows that fair?

Alistair quite rightly says that if we were rich we could just go and buy all of these things, or live somewhere for as long as we needed the cannabis oil for. My ex husband would have said “thats the law of the jungle”.

I say its not good enough, you shouldn’t only be able to get these things if you have money. I reminded Alistair that we are able to afford more than many others (true, we had to do that small thing- sell our house- in order to do so but… ), but its simply not right that these choices are not open to us from our health care system.

The trouble is when the NHS gets its hands on things it can’t help but medicalise it and fuck it up, The London Homeopathic Hospital is a prime example. Now known as the London Hospital for Integrative Medicine and under the control of the Utterly Crap London Hospital there is very little that this hospital has in common with a truly homeopathic approach. The remedies seem to be more off the peg than tailored to individual needs and consultation times are condensed into NHS time slots rather than the appropriate duration that homeopaths are trained to offer.

Rather than whinging though, I think its time to get involved in trying to bring about change. Alistair and I do all we can to educate people about the difference the right foods choices can make to our health, so its time for us to widen that and probably join some pressure groups. Fear not, I will keep you posted on our endeavours, unless  of course, you see me on the telly being kettled by the police at a protest rally and if  that happens please Candace and Hannah  would you look after your dad until Im released on bail! (Im no stranger to bail but thats a story for another blog)!

So, we have about 7 weeks or so to wait for the Op and we will keep hopeful that this will be the thing that at long last allows Alistair to pee, in the meantime we will stay well, positive and focused on creating change.

I am thrilled though that family members and friends are making positive changes to reclaim their health and to prevent ill health by introducing   better nutrition and  going organic, great news and it brings to mind one of my favourite quotes: ” for things to change, first must I”

Blimey, our first anniversary of alternative living has been and gone! 4 seasons behind us and still crazy and content living in Gladys full-time. I do wonder sometimes what people truly think when they come to visit us in Gladys, whats really going on in their minds as they sit with us in our hippy wagon sipping herbal tea and taking in the reality of how we live! I hope of course that all who come do so with an open heart and an open mind which is a philosophy very much encouraged in Gladys.

The past few weeks have been quite hectic and to be honest at times a little difficult. Alistair and I have both felt quite drained and were thankful to have had that months rest to cushion us. I knew in advance that June was going to be a weary month for me, I had an end of year exam to study for which meant once again, the same as in February, at least 2 hours of early morning study before work in order to ensure I pass. Those that know me well enough know that if I put my mind to doing something I will strive to do it to the very best of my ability, my sports background mentality no doubt! Going into an exam under prepared and not knowing enough due to a lack of self discipline was never going to be an option. I function much better early in the day anyway and its lovely and quiet with just the birds waking up and chattering outside. I have to admit that Alistair did become a little overwhelmed with the amount of study though in the final week before my exam when on a couple of days I had cleared my diary to study through the day. Its like I could feel the pressure building up in him of trying to keep quiet, you know, like being in the library when you were young and wanting to burst out laughing because the silence was so intense. He did well though, fed and watered me as necessary and did a bit of ‘driving miss daisy’ to let my brain rest and help me unwind. Anyway, thats my first year completed now and I have a few months off until the fun starts again in October.

We also found that our dear boy dog Laddie had become quite poorly whilst we were away on holiday and it transpires that he has a large growth near or on his spleen and a significant heart murmur. So, we will nurse him gently and take the best care of him until he looks and feels like he has had enough and then we will do the very kindest thing possible 😦  Not an easy decision but he will let us know Im sure.

In amongst this we also had to contend with Alistair’s poor old waterworks. We had an appointment scheduled with the registrar, who catheterised Alistair in April, to remove the catheter in the hope that Alistair would be able to pee again. It was quite a long process, only in terms of sitting around in a hospital for about 4 hours (not our favourite place to be as you all well know) with Alistair drinking water and measuring what came out compared to what went in. It was indeed a slow process, he nipped in and out of the loo as the feeling of wanting to pee began to grow and every time I tried so hard not to let my eyes ask the question as soon as he emerged from the lavvy… ” anything…did you go”? I failed miserably though and of course we were in a corridor waiting room that was filled with other ‘patients’ so he was not going to announce anything until we were well out of earshot and in the safety of just us two where he could whisper in my ear…”a tiny dribble”.

And so the morning went on trickle by trickle, little pees, top whack 75mls but averaging about 50mls each time. However around about the 4 hour mark and after an ultrasound the registrar was happy(ish) to give Alistair the chance to remain catheter free in the hope that over the next few hours his bladder would pick up the pace and a nice flow would develop. Yippee, we left the Royal London in a buoyant mood and celebrated with a usually off limits stop at a little Italian Cafe we rather like near Victoria Park!

And for the  next couple of days things went ok (not a big OK but ok). Until… the worst Thursday night in the whole wide world ever!!!!!! Poor Alistair was literally up the whole night, not a wink and not a dribble but a burning (literally) desire to pee. By morning he was in intense pain, exhausted and in full blown retention. Scrap my scheduled study day, emergency drive back to The Royal and then a painful wait whilst the registrar who was on call could find time to Ultrasound, a whole litre of pee, and with pleasure rather than reluctance from Alistair, re-insert a catheter.

Somewhat deflated we found ourselves back at the drawing board. Alistair was understandably feeling low and I think quite lost with finding a way forward. Through circumstance rather than choice we found ourselves in what Alistair’s sister Gillian calls ‘the cycle of intervention’ and it runs away with you. It seems a never-ending cycle of hospitals, Dr’s, Consultants and appointments that take you further and further away from where you intended to be going.

We met with our user friendly consultant the following week, the good news, Alistair’s PSA was down to 30 which is brilliant, Im sure the hormone injections have influenced this dramatically, don’t know how much the Ketogenic diet helped, I would like to think so but of course thats not measurable as we did both things at the same time. So as it stands, our consultant has Alistair down on another waiting list for another operation to bore out the middle of his Prostate Gland (Trans-Urethral Resection of the Prostate) and then a couple of weeks after that to replace the Stent that went in at the last operation. Obviously for us (well for Alistair but you will notice we come as a package) another operation is the last thing we want. Surgery in our minds has to be the very last port of call when all other options have been seriously tried, so the search began again, in earnest.

Alistair’s fight came back after that consultation. He felt cornered and disempowered and thats not a good place for anyone to be coming from. He started reading again, different perspectives about why sometimes things don’t heal. He began to look more seriously about his own emotional and psychological blocks to healing from the curve ball and a new path to his journey emerged. We chatted things though, he researched, found a Shamanic practitioner and experienced a soul retrieval (an experience I would urge everyone to go through). At the same time he also came across a beautiful soul, a medically qualified Doctor who practices alternative medicine in the form of Herbalism, Homeopathy, Nurtition and healing. WHAT  A FIND!  To experience his full holistic consultation was like no other, truly inspiring, truly beautiful, and he also has his very own curve ball that he is continuing to heal from. He is treating Alistair for adrenal fatigue (I  feel the need to mention at this point that I actually did mention to Alistair earlier on this year that I suspected he had adrenal fatigue) and I suspect Alistair will have a few sessions over the next few months to deal with emotional and psychological blocks to healing.

As a result of the soul retrieval and the treatment for adrenal fatigue (glandular tissue in supplement form) along with Alistair being back in the driving seat things are certainly better for us. He has an appointment early in August to remove the catheter again and depending on how that goes along with the alternative approaches that he has added in and our continued nutritional approach we are hopeful that surgery will not be necessary. If it is, it is but at least we know he is doing everything in his power to heal on all levels.

I hope to be the bearer of good news in my next update! 🙂